The Insurrection on Capitol Hill: Supporting Recovery from Life-Threatening Violence

Dr Marleen Wong and J. Kevin Cameron have combined their years of experience to provide insight and counsel on supporting those impacted by the riots on Capitol Hill. Details of the violence that occurred during the Insurrection of January 6, 2021 continue to be disclosed as we learn more about the motivations and actions of those groups and individuals who surged through the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. Coming after months of struggling [...]

February 10, 2020 By NACTATR Update Read More

Guidelines for Re-Entry into the School Setting During the Pandemic

While Health Departments have been directing much of the initial focus on re-entry to schools, the emotional and traumatic impact of COVID-19 has received less attention. These Guidelines will set the standard as the most comprehensive trauma-informed and systems-based practice for supporting students, staff and their families during the pandemic. [...]

May 13, 2020 By NACTATR Update Read More

Trauma in Human Systems: A Brief Introduction

Many of the effects that floods, earthquakes, tornados, car accidents, suicides and serious acts of violence have on the human organism are documented and known amongst helping professionals. These effects, however, are typically understood within the context of how trauma affects individuals. Although this is essential information for professionals and the victims of trauma to know, there are other factors that are not well understood that also influence the trauma response of individuals: namely the system. [...]

March 7, 2020 By NACTATR Article Read More

NACTATR is Pleased to Announce Level Three (VTRA) Training Dates!

Level Three VTRA is a two-day comprehensive training focused on Stage Three VTRA which is data-driven case formulation and treatment planning culminating in “comprehensive multidisciplinary interventions”. This training draws on the clinical expertise of Dr. William Pollack in the treatment of complex psychiatric symptomology and the clinical expertise of J. Kevin Cameron in the treatment of family systems generated pathology. Overlaid with trauma [...]

March 3, 2020 By NACTATR Update Read More

A crisis-response specialist talks about the Calgary stabbings

As executive director of the Canadian Centre for Threat Assessment and Trauma Response, Kevin Cameron spends his days trying to defuse crisis situations and help victims, families, schools and communities make sense of tragedies that seem nonsensical. He became immersed in this line of work after leading the crisis-response team sent in after a 14-year-old boy entered a high school in Taber, Alta., and opened fire, killing one and wounding another in 1999. [...]

April 16, 2014 By Gayle MacDonald Interview Read More

Mass Killings Are Seen as a Kind of Contagion

As mass shootings have become ever more familiar, experts have come to understand them less as isolated expressions of rage and more as acts that build on the blueprints of previous rampages. Experts in violence prevention say that many, if not most, perpetrators of such shootings have intensively researched earlier mass attacks, often expressing admiration for those who carried them out. The publicity that surrounds these killings can have an accelerating effect on other troubled and angry would-be killers who are already [...]

October 7, 2015 By Erica Goode and Benedict Carey Interview Read More

Saskatoon teachers learn to spot trauma in students

A trauma expert is helping Saskatoon teachers learn how to recognize the signs of extreme stress in students, as a first step in preventing violence or suicide. Kevin Cameron has another message as well: It's not only up to teachers to spot the signs, but also parents and other adults involved in the lives of children and teens. [...]

November 27, 2014 By CBC News Interview Read More

Are Mass Murderers Insane? Usually Not, Researchers Say

HIGH PROFILE TRAUMA On April 6th, 2018 at least 15 lives were lost and many others were injured in a tragic collision involving the well-beloved Humboldt Broncos. All were part of the Humboldt family and the local response to the tragedy is unfathomable at this time. Several players on the team are from outside Saskatchewan including Alberta and Manitoba making this a Western Canadian traumatic event. However, with hockey being so dear to the hearts [...]

April 6, 2013 By New York Times Interview Read More

Preventing school-related violence in Alberta

Experts believe that it is rare for school-related violence to happen out of the blue. These events are most often carefully planned and developed. According to Alberta violence threat risk assessment teams, perpetrators leave enough indicators to alert those paying attention, and spotting the signs before it escalates to stop violence before it starts. The Community Violence Threat Risk Assessment Protocol was signed in Central Alberta this week, in response to recent school shootings. It’s an action plan [...]

March 14, 2018 By Alberta Primetime Interview, Video Read More

Limits to Law and Information Sharing, Despite Gunman’s Danger Signs

Experts believe that it is rare for school-related violence to happen out of the blue. These events are most often carefully planned and developed. According to Alberta violence threat risk assessment teams, perpetrators leave enough indicators to alert those paying attention, and spotting the signs before it escalates to stop violence before it starts. The Community Violence Threat Risk Assessment Protocol was signed in Central Alberta this week, [...]

March 14, 2018 By New York Times Interview Read More